Challenges in (Re)designing EdD Programs

“Timely, innovative, and infused with real-world cases from EdD faculty members’ practices, this book is a must-read for all faculty whose daily lives revolve around supporting students in professional doctoral programs. The cases are carefully selected and provide a unique contribution toward developing and re-designing programs that prepare educational leaders. The novelty of the case-study learning approach for faculty development makes the book an invaluable tool every professional doctoral program needs!”

Veselina Lambrev, EdD, University of South Florida

“Jill Perry has done it! She and the authors in this fantastic and timely edited text have literally captured what has been my conundrum for decades within doctoral education: how to make plain, in language, design and execution with students and faculty, the distinction between the PhD and practice doctorate in education. For so long we have relied on our own experience and sophisticated professional alchemy to design EdD programs. Challenges in (Re)designing EdD Programs provides practice-based evidence on how to educate educators to effectively make the change we need to see in our schools, districts and communities.”

Noel Anderson, PhD, Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development, New York University

“Each of the case studies in this book immerse readers into real and relevant tensions, opportunities, challenges, and complexities inherent in the (re)design of EdD programs. Education faculty working with scholar practitioners will appreciate the transparency and practicality of cases involving justice and equity-oriented frameworks, research preparation curriculum, and dissertation-in-practice experiences. This collection of cases invites readers to think, question, and act in their unique contexts and to embrace the messy process of working toward critical and sustained professional and programmatic change.”

Gage R. Jeter, PhD, Coordinator of the University of Florida’s Teachers, Schools, and Society EdD Program

“If you are ready to achieve authentic (re)design of your Ed.D. program, then this timely resource will help you navigate the landscape. In this important companion to Dr. Perry and her colleagues’ other books, we learn the roadmap for reimagining the Ed.D. by use of successful cases—examples of strong, existing examples and models. Each chapter provides us with principles on issues critical in Ed.D. programs: addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; the role of research in Ed.D. preparation; addressing multiple Ed.D. programs in one institution; the Ed.D.’s integration into the broader institutional fabric; and supporting a group dissertation model. Whether a professor, leader of Ed.D. programs, or leader of a school/college of education, you will benefit from wisdom tailored for your needs and your roles and responsibilities. Eminently practical, Dr. Perry and her colleagues provide us with the structured approaches to ensure our practitioners in Ed.D. programs are the beneficiaries of top-flight, data- and equity-driven educational preparation.”

Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly, Dean and Professor, School of Education California State University, Channel Islands

“Perry’s Challenges in (Re)designing EdD Programs: Supporting Change with Learning Cases offers cases detailing the redesign processes at various institutions to support EdD programs in enacting the CPED Guiding Principles. Authors provide faculty and educational leaders real-world examples to emulate (or challenges to avoid) when navigating the complex process of program redesign. Those involved in the program redesign process—from faculty to chairs to deans—will find tremendous value in learning about the program development process as well as the change management necessary for successful implementation and institutionalization of program reforms.”

Lesley F. Leach, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development Delegate, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, Professor of Educational Research, Tarleton State University

“In Challenges in (Re)designing EdD Programs: Supporting Change with Learning Cases Perry crafts a text which helps educational professionals and educator preparation programs succinctly understand the process necessary to effectively frame, create, or re-vision Education Doctorate programs. Perry’s work explains, persuades, and exemplifies what an Ed.D. program should embody. By infusing learning cases as a means of facilitating professional learning she guides members of the academy through the process of developing programs capable of producing scholar practitioners skilled in navigating both the academic and professional realms which many students find themselves positioned. I highly recommend this book.”

Reginald D. Wilkerson, Assistant Professor, William & Mary – School of Education

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1
Why Cases? by Jill Alexa Perry

Chapter 2
Preparing Culturally Responsive Leaders at Metro City University by Andrew Leland

Chapter 3
Applied Researcher PhD-lite at Western State University by William Firestone

Chapter 4
Faculty Resistance to Higher Education Program Change: A Case of Difference by Gary M. Crow

Chapter 5
Institutionalizing the Professional Practice Doctorate at Central State University by Jill Alexa Perry

Chapter 6
Social Dynamics and Group Dissertations at Tech University by Andrew Leland

Chapter 7
Reflections on Cases for Program (Re)design by Gary M. Crow

Author Biographies

Index

Jill Alexa Perry

Dr. Jill Alexa Perry is the Executive Director of the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED) and an Associate Professor of Practice in the Educational Foundations, Organizations and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on professional doctorate preparation in education, organizational change in higher education, and faculty leadership roles. Currently she is researching the ways EdD programs teach practitioners to utilize research evidence. She teaches and coaches how to teach Improvement Science in EdD programs. Her books include The Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice, The EdD and the Scholarly Practitioner, and In Their Own Words: A Journey to the Stewardship of the Practice in Education.

Dr. Perry is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she received her PhD in International Education Policy. She holds an MA in Higher Education Administration and a BA in Spanish and International Studies from Boston College. She has over 25 years of experience in leadership and program development in education and teaching experience at the elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels in the US and abroad. She is a Fulbright Scholar (Germany) and a returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Paraguay).